Apparatus providing adjustable vehicle ball joint positioning

ABSTRACT

A replacement ball joint apparatus and method for conveniently modifying motor vehicle suspension camber, caster or camber/caster combination angle by means of repositioning a wheel spindle top or bottom relative to a control arm. The apparatus includes a mount assembly secured at one end of a ball joint which is connectable at its other end to the spindle, the mount assembly having a slide with a stud extending therefrom. A guide assembly is securable at the control arm and receives and guides the slide.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to wheel adjustment/alignment apparatus andmethods for vehicles, and, more particularly, relates to apparatus andmethods for adjusting the control arm/wheel spindle relationship at anupper or lower ball joint connection to produce changes in the camber,caster or camber/caster combination angle of a vehicle wheel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most vehicles consist of a tire/wheel mounted to a spindle which isattached to the vehicle through upper and lower control arms with themain connection being through ball joints mounted to the control arms.Some vehicles, however, are manufactured without provision for adjustingcamber angle in the wheels. For example, some vehicles utilize an ‘A’shaped upper control arm with ‘silent-bloc’ type pivot isolators pressedinto the inner pivot locations of the arm. The inner control arm in somesuch cases has a ‘u’ shaped bracket welded into it, with cross-holes inthe inner bracket and inner control arm for locating the mounting boltsthat engage and clamp the ‘silent-bloc’ pivot isolators. Thisarrangement locates the inner pivots of the upper control arm in a fixedposition with no means of adjustment.

The camber and caster angles of the tire/wheel (relative to the vehicleframe) directly effect vehicle handling and tire wear and is thereforeof great importance. Camber angle is typically specified by the factoryat a specific vehicle ride height (the distance from the ground to somepoint in the vehicle suspension corresponding to the vehicle framecenter of gravity). The camber angle established between the plane ofthe tire and wheel and the vertical plane through the vehicle frame isdirectly impacted by any changes in the suspension components. Suchchanges can occur through damage to the components or throughmodification, intentional or unintentional, to the vehicle ride height.Thus, vehicles with raised or lowered ride height or damaged suspensionlinks will typically not maintain proper camber angle and require meansfor readjusting the camber angle to the original specifications ifhandling and tire longevity are not to be sacrificed. Moreover, it maybecome desirable to correct a mis-aligned vehicle with other thanstrictly camber corrections.

One current means for adjusting camber angle consists of changing therelative position of the control arm to the vehicle at the body mountingpoints. This allows the control arm, and thus the ball joint position,to be moved laterally with respect to the vehicle, thereby changing thecamber angle of the spindle and the tire/wheel. This method will notwork if the vehicle's control arm mounting scheme prevents replacing thefixed control arm body mounts with an adjustable mounting apparatus.

Another current means for adjusting camber angle provides forreplacement of the upper or lower ball joint with an offset ball jointthat, when rotated, allows changes of the position of the spindlemounting point around an offset arc. While this enables the camber angleto be modified, it at the same time modifies the caster angle, sometimesundesirably, due to its fixed radial offset arc. Further improvementscould thus be utilized

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides apparatus and method for selective positioningof a vehicle ball joint relative to a control arm to provideadjustability of wheel camber, wheel caster, and/or a combination ofwheel camber and caster. The apparatus is simple to install and adjust,requires no modification of other suspension components, and providesfor adjustment of wheel camber independent of caster adjustment.

The apparatus includes a mount configured to be secured at an end of theball joint, the mount having a stud extending from a slide. A guide issecurable at the control arm and receives and rotationally stabilizesthe slide of the mount. The guide has a slot for receiving the stud ofthe mount therethrough, the stud and the slide thus movable linearly atthe guide.

An insert is installed through an opening in the control arm with a rimthereof extendible through the control arm opening and receivableadjacent to the guide. A slot in the insert is substantially coextensivewith the slot of the guide, the stud extending therethrough. A fasteneris engageable with the stud to secure the selected position of the balljoint by securing the position of the stud relative to the slots in theinsert and the guide. The ball joint may be pre-installed in theapparatus of this invention (and thus a part thereof), or providedseparately from the apparatus of this invention for installation byservice personnel.

The method of this invention provides for adjusting the relativeposition of a vehicle ball joint and a central axis of the control armopening. The method includes the steps of affixing a stud to the balljoint and positioning the stud through the control arm opening. Linearmovement of the stud perpendicular to the axis of the control armopening is guided while rotational movement of the stud in the openingis stabilized. When desired adjustment is achieved, the stud is securedat the selected position relative to the axis of the control armopening.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide apparatus andmethods for selective positioning of a vehicle ball joint relative to acontrol arm to provide adjustability of wheel camber, wheel caster,and/or a combination of wheel camber and caster.

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus forselective vehicle wheel angle positioning that is simple to install andadjust on a vehicle, requires no modification of other suspensioncomponents, and provides for adjustment of wheel camber independent ofcaster adjustment.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an apparatus forselective positioning of a vehicle ball joint securable between acontrol arm and a wheel mounting, the apparatus including a mountconfigured to be secured at an end of the ball joint and including astud extending from a slide, and a guide securable at the control armand receiving and rotationally stabilizing the slide of the mountthereat, the guide having a slot for receiving the stud of the mounttherethrough, the stud and the slide movable linearly at the guide.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an apparatusmountable at a vehicle control arm opening and at a spindle to provideselectable camber correction of a vehicle wheel including an inserthaving a rim and a slot, the rim extendible through the control armopening, a guide receivable adjacent to the rim of the insert andincluding a slot substantially coextensive with the slot of the insert,a slide with a stud extending from one side thereof and receivable atthe guide with the stud receivable through the slots of the guide andthe insert, a ball joint affixable at one end to the spindle and atanother end to the slide, and a fastener engageable with the stud.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method foradjusting relative position of a vehicle ball joint and a central axisof a control arm opening including the steps of affixing a stud to theball joint, positioning the stud through the control arm opening,guiding linear movement of the stud perpendicular to the axis of thecontrol arm opening while rotationally stabilizing the stud in theopening, and securing the stud at a selected position relative to theaxis of the control arm opening.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent to oneskilled in the art as the description proceeds, this invention residesin the novel construction, combination, arrangement of parts and methodsubstantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly defined bythe appended claims, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the herein disclosed invention are meant to be included ascome within the scope of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a complete embodiment of theinvention according to the best mode so far devised for the practicalapplication of the principles thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical suspension system on a vehicle as suppliedby a manufacturer;

FIG. 2 illustrates the suspension system of FIG. 1 with the apparatus ofthis invention installed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the camber/caster adjusting apparatus ofthis invention;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along section line 7—7 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the camber/caster adjusting apparatus ofthis invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical suspension system on a vehicle as suppliedby the manufacturer. Upper control arm 10 and lower control arm 12 areboth attached to the vehicle frame (not shown). Spindle 14, whichincludes wheel mount 16 for supporting a wheel with a tire mountedthereon (not shown), is pivotably attached to each control arm throughupper ball joint 18 and lower ball joint 19, the ball joints spaced afixed distance apart by spindle 14.

FIG. 2 shows the suspension of FIG. 1 with camber/caster adjustingapparatus 20 of this invention replacing the factory ball joint 18 forselective translation of the position of the upper ball joint along alinear distance “Y”, either inward towards the vehicle frame or outwardaway from the vehicle frame. When set as illustrated and discussed ingreater detail hereinbelow, the effect of movement in the “Y” directionwill be to decrease or increase, respectively, the camber angleestablished by the plane of the tire and wheel with the vertical planeof the vehicle frame in the direction from front to back of the vehicle.While use with the upper ball joint is illustrated herein, the apparatuscould be applied to replace lower ball joint 19 and/or applied at bothlocations.

Camber/caster adjusting apparatus 20, as shown in FIGS. 3 through 8,includes guide assembly 21 and mount assembly 22. Guide assembly 21includes insert 23 and guide plate 24 maintained at opposite sides ofcontrol arm opening 25 (see FIG. 8). Mount assembly 22 includes slide 26having offset stud 28 extending therefrom through opening 29. Ball joint30 is held at slide 26 by collar 32. The apparatus is held in relativepositions, as discussed hereinafter, by fastener 34 (for example aflange nut), ball joint 30 affixable at spindle 14 conventionally.

Insert 23 is pressed into opening 25 of upper control arm 10 (and/orlower control arm 12) in place of the factory supplied ball joint (18 ofFIG. 1). For camber only adjustment, insert 23 is oriented along theneutral caster angle by alignment of orientation mark 35 on the controlarm (see FIG. 2) and a corresponding dimple or other orientation mark 36on insert 23. Guide plate 24 and insert 23 each have a slot 38 and 40,respectively, which are substantially coextensive and along which stud28 is linearly movable. Substantially parallel guide ridges 42 and 44 atguide plate 24 maintain rotational stability and guide linear movementof slide body 46 of slide 26, by guiding engagement adjacent to spacedsubstantially parallel edges 48 and 50 of slide body 46.

While a particular structure is shown for the guiding and stabilizinginterrelationship of guide plate 24 and slide 26, many differentconfigurations at guide plate 24 and mating configuration at slide 26could be utilized to achieve the same purpose. For example, the guideridges may be positioned at slide 26 and the matable edges at guideplate 24, or multiple spaced channels or a single centered channel couldbe provided at either guide plate 24 or slide 26 with correspondingstructure at the other configured to ride in the channel or channels.

Insert 23 includes a flange 52 and rim 54, slot 40 defined through rim54. Rim 54 extends through opening 25 of control arm 10 and is receivedadjacent to annular extension 56 of guide plate 24. Ball joint 30 issecured at slide 26 by means of a press fit of ball joint end 58 andslide 26 into collar 32 with the addition of a staking process toprovide a material deformation of collar end 60 over annular lip 62 ofslide 26 to mechanically retain the unit (see FIG. 7). Ball joint 30 maybe a factory supplied ball joint and is attached at its other end tospindle 14 using conventional means (applying nut and pin assembly 64 tolower threaded stud 66 after application thereof through opening 67 ofspindle 14, for example).

When ball joint 30 is connected to slide 26, it can be seen that thecentral longitudinal axis of stud 28 is offset relative to the centrallongitudinal axis of ball joint 30. This offset provides greater extentof wheel angle adjustability, since neutral adjustment, corresponding toalignment of the central axis of ball joint 30 (vertical axis in theFIGURES) with the central axis of opening 25 in control arm 10 (and thusthe central axis of insert 23), locates stud 28 near an end of slots 38and 40 of guide plate 24 and insert 23.

In use, insert 23 is installed into opening 25 of vehicle suspensioncontrol arm 10 (or other selected member) with orientation mark 36 at aselected position to achieve the desired direction of angleadjustability. For example, to allow camber only adjustment, insert 23should be mounted with marks 35 and 36 aligned as shown in FIGS. 2 and 8(caster neutral alignment), so that the length of slots 38 and 40 ofguide plate 24 and insert 23 are also aligned with the guide marks.

Guide plate 24, with slide 26 thereat having stud 28 extending throughslot 38, is positioned at the opposite side of control arm 10. Balljoint 30 may be attached to spindle 14 in advance of or afterinstallation of mount assembly 22 at guide assembly 21 with stud 28extending through slot 40 of insert 23 (and thus through opening 25 ofcontrol arm 10) and held by nut 34. Slide 26, with edges 46 and 48engaging ridges 42 and 44 of guide plate 24 to stabilize and guide slide26, when moved in guide plate 24 allows only linear movement of stud 28in opening 25 perpendicular to the axis of the opening. This slidingmovement provides tire/wheel camber adjustment without affecting casterangle (when aligned for caster neutral adjustment as shown in FIG. 2).When the desired angle is achieved (with ball joint 30 and the centralaxis of opening 25 of control arm 10 in a selected relative position),nut 34 is tightened to retain the interrelationship of the componentsthus established by securing stud 28 at the selected position relativeto the axis of opening 25 and along slots 38/40 and slide 26 at guideplate 24.

Should readjustment be desired, nut 34 may be loosened and mountassembly 22 of apparatus 20 can be moved inward (towards the vehicleframe) or outwards (away from the frame) by moving threaded stud 28 inguide assembly slots 38/40 until the corrected angle is achieved. Theposition of apparatus 20 is then fixed by applying sufficient torque toflange nut 30.

As may be appreciated, the apparatus of this invention could be modifiedfor installation in such a way as to affect only caster angle or in sucha way as to affect both caster and camber angles. A geometricrelationship exists between the upper and lower wheel spindleconnections (ball joints 18 and 19) and the camber and caster angles ofthe wheel to the vehicle. As previously indicated, altering the positionof one of the ball joints in the neutral caster direction affects thecamber angle in a desired fashion. Extending this to caster andcamber/caster combination corrections and adjustments, the camber/casteradjusting apparatus of this invention can be used to adjust caster onlyangles or some combination of camber and caster. If so desired, byrotating insert 23 to another position of orientation mark 36 relativeto mark 35 on upper control arm 10 during installation, camber/casteradjusting apparatus 20 can be rotated in a predetermined fashion toprovide for adjustment of caster only or some combination of camber andcaster angles.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for selective positioning of a vehicleball joint securable between a control arm and a wheel mounting, saidapparatus comprising: a mount configured to be secured at an end of theball joint and including a stud extending from a slide; a guidesecurable at the control arm and receiving and rotationally stabilizingsaid slide of said mount thereat, said guide having a slot for receivingsaid stud of said mount therethrough, said stud and said slide movablelinearly at said guide; and an insert having a rim extendible throughthe control arm and receivable adjacent to said guide and a slotsubstantially coextensive with said slot of said guide.
 2. The apparatusof claim 3 further comprising a fastener engageable with said studextending through said slot of said guide for fixing location of saidstud relative to said slot and said slide of said mount relative to saidguide.
 3. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said mount includes a collarsecuring the ball joint end at said slide.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said guide includes spaced substantially parallel ridges andwherein said slide includes spaced substantially parallel edge portions,said edge portions adjacent to said ridges when said slide is receivedat said guide.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said guide includesan annular extension, said rim of said insert receivable at said annularextension.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said insert includes aflange at one side of said rim, said flange larger than the control armopening.
 7. Apparatus for selective positioning of a vehicle ball jointsecurable between a control arm and a wheel mounting, said apparatuscomprising: a mount configured to be secured at an end of the ball jointand including a stud extending from a slide; a guide securable at thecontrol arm and receiving and rotationally stabilizing said slide ofsaid mount thereat, said guide having a slot for receiving said stud ofsaid mount therethrough, said stud and said slide movable linearly atsaid guide; and said guide including a surface configuration and saidslide including a mating configuration, said configurations selected toaccommodate movement of said slide linearly but not rotationally.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein said surface configuration of said guideincludes spaced substantially parallel ridges and wherein said matingconfiguration of said slide includes spaced substantially parallel edgeportions, said edge portions adjacent to said ridges when said slide isreceived at said guide.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising afastener engageable with said stud extending through said slot of saidguide for fixing location of said stud relative to said slot and saidslide of said mount relative to said guide.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7wherein said mount includes a collar securing the ball joint end at saidslide.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising an insert havinga rim extendible through the control arm and receivable adjacent to saidguide and a slot substantially coextensive with said slot of said guide.12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said stud extends from said slideat an offset position relative to a central axis of the ball jointaffixed to said slide so that relative positions of said ball joint andsaid insert are substantially coaxial when said stud is at one positionin said slots of said insert and said guide.
 13. Apparatus mountable ata vehicle control arm opening and at a spindle to provide selectablecamber correction of a vehicle wheel comprising: an insert having a rimand a slot, said rim extendible through the control arm opening; a guidereceivable adjacent to said rim of said insert and including a slotsubstantially coextensive with said slot of said insert; a slide with astud extending from one side thereof and receivable at said guide withsaid stud receivable through said slots of said guide and said insert; aball joint affixable at one end to the spindle and at another end tosaid slide; and a fastener engageable with said stud.
 14. The apparatusof claim 13 wherein said slide includes a body having spaced edgeportions and an annular lip at one side thereof, said apparatus furthercomprising a collar receiving said ball joint and secured at saidannular lip of said slide.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein saidguide includes spaced substantially parallel ridges, said edge portionsof said body of said slide maintained adjacent to said ridges when saidslide is received at said guide to rotationally stabilize said slide atsaid guide while accommodating linear movement of said slide at saidguide.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said guide includes anannular extension, said rim of said insert receivable at said annularextension.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said insert includes aflange at one side of said rim, said flange larger than the control armopening.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said stud extends fromsaid slide at an offset position relative to a central axis of said balljoint affixed to said slide so that relative positions of said balljoint and said insert are substantially coaxial when said stud isadjacent to first ends of said slots of said insert and said guide.